Upright space-dividing screen arrangements are well known for use in commercial and office environments, and numerous variations of such arrangements have been developed. Most known upright space-dividing screen arrangements, however, have been developed solely for the purpose of functioning as a privacy divider between adjacent work areas. Accordingly, many such screen arrangements are often heavy, bulky and are not readily movable or transportable.
Further, such screens typically are rigid in that they use rigid panels and frames which have a fixed height and cannot be bent to the shape of the work areas. Such rigid panel and frame arrangements typically use additional rigid screens, panels or frames which are joined together to vary the height, length or shape of the wall being formed by the screen components. As a result, such divider screen arrangements require additional time and effort to vary the configuration thereof. While not all screen arrangements suffer from such drawbacks, nevertheless many of these arrangements lack flexibility in modifying the divider screen to accommodate the varying requirements of an office space, which requirements can change over time.
It is an object of this invention to provide an upright space-dividing screen arrangement developed particularly for use in office and commercial environments, which screen arrangement provides a higher degree of flexibility than that provided by conventional, structurally rigid screens as described above.
In view of the foregoing, the divider screen assembly of the invention includes a pair of spaced apart upright telescoping support poles or posts which stand independently upon a floor, and a flexible fabric screen extending therebetween.
More particularly, the support poles include an inner tube supported on the floor and a hollow outer tube which is adapted to be slid onto the upper end of the inner tube. The outer tube thereby is positioned in telescoping engagement with the lower tube to permit adjustment of the overall height of the support poles.
The screen is formed of a flexible fabric and extends from one post to the other spaced apart post. The opposite ends of the fabric screen include vertical connector rods, the upper and lower ends of which are adapted to be removably engaged with the post. Once the connector rods are connected to the outer tubes so that the screen is supported thereby, the privacy screen assembly and in particular, the support poles can be placed where desired in a workstation area. The flexible screen extending therebetween serves to provide privacy to a workstation user. Since the screen is a flexible fabric, the distance between the two support posts can be adjusted without adjusting the length of the screen.
Further, the outer tube not only is vertically movable relative to the inner tube, but also can be rotated relative thereto. By rotating the outer tube relative to the inner tube, the screen can be wrapped around the periphery or circumference of the outer tube and rolled up to reduce the length between the two support posts.
Still further, each support post includes a plurality of angularly spaced apart mounting locations for the screen. Thus, additional flexible screens can be connected to each post so as to extend outwardly at different angular positions and further define the boundaries of the workstation areas. The free ends of these additional screens are themselves supported by additional support posts. Thus, one or more of the support posts can serve as a hub for a workstation area wherein several fabric screens are connected thereto. The opposite ends of the screens are positioned where desired by moving the additional support posts which support these additional screens. As a result, the divider screen assembly is fully adjustable and can be readily positioned for use.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.